General classical scaling of electron-loss cross sections in collisions of atoms with highly charged ions

With use of the classical concepts for electron capture and ionization, a general scaling relationship for the electron-loss cross section in collisions of atoms with highly charged ions is derived. The validity of the obtained formula is determined by the combined validity regions of the classical approximations for electron capture and ionization and covers a broad range of parameters in which most of present-day experiments are carried out. An analogous scaling formula for the ${\mathrm{H}}^{*}\mathrm{}\left(n\right)\mathrm{}$ + ${\mathrm{H}}^{+}$ electron-loss collisions is also derived.